#BringBackOurGirls: “I am deeply concerned” – President Jonathan

In a 514 word opinion piece article published in yesterday’s edition
of the Washington Post, President Jonathan affirmed his determination to bring back the over 200 school girls that was abducted in chibok by the Islamic extremist, boko Haram. GEJ regretted that his
silence on the issue has been misconstrued by critics as a sign of
weakness as he confessed that as a father, he was touched by the
feelings of the parents of the abducted girls.

In the article titled “Nothing is more important than bringing home
Nigeria’s missing girls” the president said that the terrorism in
Nigeria is not unique and that it was in that respect that Nigeria
this month, alongside, Benin, Cameroon, Chad, Niger, Britain and
the United States established an External Intelligence Response
Unit to share security information on such threats in West Africa.
He added that he would, in September, propose to the United
Nations to establish an international force to tackle the activities
of such terrorists anywhere there are found.
Saying he was not weak on the issue as portrayed, Jonathan said:

“I have had to remain quiet about the continuing efforts by
Nigeria’s military, police and investigators to find the girls
kidnapped in April from the town of Chibok by the terrorist group
Boko Haram. I am deeply concerned, however, that my silence as
we work to accomplish the task at hand is being misused by
partisan critics to suggest inaction or even weakness.”

“My silence has been necessary to avoid compromising the details
of our investigation. But let me state this unequivocally: My
government and our security and intelligence services have spared
no resources, have not stopped and will not stop until the girls are
returned home and the thugs who took them are brought to justice.
On my orders, our forces have aggressively sought these killers in
the forests of northern Borno state, where they are based. They are
fully committed to defending the integrity of their country.”

“My heart aches for the missing children and their families. I am a
parent myself, and I know how awfully this must hurt. Nothing is
more important to me than finding and rescuing our girls.”